Printing press control system

ABSTRACT

A printing press control system for controlling a press having a plurality of printing units each of which has at least two printing cylinders, with each cylinder having a plurality of plate positions and a plurality of column positions within each plate position. An ink supply system is associated with each printing cylinder in the press, and includes means for separately adjusting the ink supply rate at each of the column positions. The control system includes means for generating an electrical signal representing a selected printing cylinder, a selected plate position, and selected column positions at which the ink supply rate is to be adjusted, and a selected direction and magnitude for the adjustment to be effected in the ink supply rate. Press adjustments other than in the ink supply system can also be controlled. The control system further includes receiver means associated with each of the printing units and responsive to the generated electrical signals for enabling the adjusting means at the selected cylinder, plate position, and column positions. The receiver means also energizes the selected adjusted means in the desired direction until an adjustment of the desired magnitude is effected, and then automatically deenergizes the adjusting means.

United States Patent 1 1 1111 3,774,536 Raymond et al. [4 Nov. 27, 19731 PRINTING PRESS CONTROL SYSTEM [22] Filed Assignee:

North American Rockwell Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa.

: Aug. 9, 1971 Appl. No.: 170,048.

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No.735,621, June 10,

- 1968, abandoned.

[52] US. Cl. 101/207, 101/365 [51] Int. Cl B4lf 31/04 [58] Field ofSearch 340/147, 163, 172.5; 101/365, 247, 366, 206-210 [56] ReferencesCited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,497,648 2 1950 Worthington 101/3652,902,927 9/1959 ROSS 101/365 3,110,254 11/1963 Davis.... 101/3653,110,885 11/1963 Gibson et al 340/163 X 3,134,325 5/1964 WorthingtonetaL. 101/365 3,200,377 8/1965 Frank, Jr. 340/147 3,397,386 8/1968Bishup et al; 340/163 3,370,289 2/1968 Hedgcock et al 340/347 3,414,78512/1968 Orahood et a1 318/18 3,444,521 5/1969 Breese 340/163 3,435,4163/1969 Kretsch et al... 340/163 3,466,517

Leenhouts 318/18 Primary Examiner-Al. Reed Fisherv Att0rney.lol'm R.Bronaugh et a1.

[5 71 1 ABSTRACT A printing press control system for controlling a presshaving a plurality of printing units each of which has at least twoprinting cylinders, with each cylinder hav ing a plurality of platepositions and a plurality of column positions within each plateposition. An ink supply system is associated with each printing cylinderin the press, and includes means for separately adjusting the ink supplyrate at each of the column positions. The control system includes meansfor generating an electrical signal representing a selected printingcylinder, a selected plate position, and selected column positions atwhich the ink supply rate is to be adjusted, and a selected directionand magnitude for the adjustment to be effected in the ink supply rate.Press adjustments other than in the ink supply system can also becontrolled. The control system further includes receiver meansassociated with each of the printing units and responsive to thegenerated electrical signals for enabling the adjusting means at theselected cylinder, plate position, and column positions. The receivermeans also energizes the selected adjusted means in the desireddirection until an adjustment of the desired magnitude is effected,and'then automatically de-energizes the adjusting means.

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PRINTING PRESS CONTROL SYSTEM CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONThis application is a continuation-in-part application of our pendingapplication Ser. No. 735,621, now abandoned, filed June 10, 1968.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally toprinting presses and, more particularly, to an improved printing presscontrol system for automatically adjusting variable press functions suchas the ink supply rate and the like, both in the presetting of the pressand during the operation thereof.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improvedautomatic control system for a printng press which is capable of makingprecisely controlled automatic adjustments at any of many specificlocations in the press, from a single control station remote from thepress, and in response to a few simple input instructions. A relatedobject of the invention is to provide such an improved control systemwhich is readily adaptable to a computer-controlled input.

Another object of the present inventon is to provide an improvedautomatic control system for a printing press of the foregoing typewhich is capable of controlling virtually any press function that can bemade responsive to an electrical signal. A more particular object ofthis aspect of the invention is to provide such an improved controlsystem for controlling the ink supply system, compensator settings andboth axial and circumferential cylinder positions.

It is a further object of this iventionto provide an improved automaticcontrol system for a printing press of the type described above which iscapable of controlling the ink supply rate, or other press variables, ata specific portion of the press printing a particular page, by simplysupplying an input representing the page number and the type ofadjustment desired.

A still further object of the invention is to provide such an improvedautomatic control systemffor a printing press which is capable ofpresetting the press for a printing run, as well as making adjustmentsduring a printng run. In this connection, a related object is to providesuch a control system which is capable of automatically selecting thepresetting stations in the press in response to input data representingthe page numbers and the press settings therefor.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide such animproved automatic control system for a printing press which is highlyreliable and accurate, and yet can be efficiently and economicallymanufactured and maintained.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent uponreading the following detailed description and upon reference to thedrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a printing press and associated controlsystem embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a keyboard for supplying inputsignals to the control system of FIG. l to effect desired adjustments inselected press variables;

FIGS. 3a and 3b are a schematic diagram of the input and transmissionportion of the control system;

FIGS. 4a and 4b are a schematic diagram of the receiver portion of thecontrol system; and

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a plate cylinder and mechanism for adjustingthe axial and circumferential positions of the cylinder.

While the invention is susceptible of various modifications andalternative forms, certain specific embodiments thereof are shown by wayof example in the drawings and will be described in detail herein. Itshould be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit theinvention to the particular forms disclosd, but, on the contrary, theintention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternativesfalling within the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in theappended claims.

It is well known by those familiar with the art of printing presses thata printing press of the type used to print newspapers comprises a seriesof printing units for printing the various pages of the newspaper, andat least one folding unit for receiving the printing pages and foldingthem to form thejnewspapers. Each printing unit includes at least oneprinting couple and typically from two to four printing couples,depending upon whether it has a single color deck, a double color deck,or no color deck at all; each printing couple has a plate cylinder whichis typically four pages wide and two pages around so that it is capableof printing eight pages, although it is to be understood that thepresent invention is applicable to printing couples having virtually anynumber of pages along its width and/or around its circumference. If aprinting cylinder has a four-page width, it is generally considered tohave four plate positions, although the cylinder is actually capable ofreceiving eight or more printing plates, i.e., two or more at each plateposition. The four-plate positions are generally identified as "near,near center, far center and far.

For the purpose of supplying ink to the printing rolls, each printingcylinder is conventionally associated with an ink fountain having anadjustable means for controlling the rate at which ink is supplied. Topermit adjustment of the ink supply rate, the adjustable means istypically provided with a number of separate adjusting stations spacedalong the length of the cylinder. As is well known to those familiarwith the press art, both blade type and injector or pump type ink supplysystems are conventionally used with printing presses, and the presentinvention is equally applicable to any of these systerns.

are cut and folded by the folder unit, each printing cylinder also hasassociated with it a compensator unit which can be actuated to shift thelongitudinal position of the particular pages being printed to achievethe desired register of all the printed pages at the folder unit. Otheradjusting stations are provided to control the cylinder register,including both sidelay" (axial) register and circumferential register,i.e., to position each printing cylinder properly with respect to othercylinders or other portions of the press.

Turning now to the drawings, in FIG. 1 there is illustrated an exemplaryprinting press with an associated control system in block diagram form.The press includes a plurality of printing units 10 each of which hasone or more lower printing cylinders or couples 10 a, and some of whichhave deck" cylinders orcouples 10b. One of the printing units has acenter color cylinder 10c. For the purpose of folding the various websTo control the registering of the printing pages which printed by theunits 10, the press also includes two folding units 11.

As will be described in more detail below, there are a number ofdifferent adjusting stations located throughout the press forcontrolling press variables such as the ink supply rate and the like. Inorder to provide automatic control of these adjusting stations, aseparate unit receiver UR or folder receiver FR is operativelyassociated with each unit, and each of these receivers is operativelyconnected to one of two press consoles 12 and 13. Each console 12 and 13receives input data from a teletypewriter l4 and a keyboard (FIG. 2)located on the console, and transmits electrical signals to selectedreceivers UR or FR to automatically effect desired adjustments atselectd adjusting stations throughout the press. The electrical systemincluded in each console 12 or 13 is shown in FIGS. 3a and 3b, while theelectrical system of a typical receiver UR is shown in FIGS. 4a and 4b,which will be described in detail below.

In accordance with the present invention, a control system is associatedwith the printing press comprising means for generating an electricalsignal representing a selected printing cylinder, a selected plateposition, and selected column positions at which the ink supply rate isto be adjusted, and a selected direction and magnitude for theadjustment to be effected in the ink supply rate. The control systemalso includes receiver means associated with each printing unit andresponsive to the generated electrical signal for enabling the adjustingmeans at the selected cylinder, plate position, and column positions,and for energizing the adjusting means in the selected direction untilan adjustment of the selected magnitude is effected and thenautomatically de-energizing the adjusting means. Thus, in theillustrative embodiment of the control system illustrated in FIGS. 3 and4, a teletypewriter 20, or an equivalent device, is used to feedinformation concerning a particular printing run into a computer 21,such as the SPC-l2 Stored Program Controller manufactured by GeneralAutomation, Inc. The SPC-l 2 is a binary, parallel, single addressprocessor with the capability of addressing eight-bit bytes of datastored in a memory, and data may be loaded from the memory into thecentral processing unit either twelve bits at a time or eight hits at atime. In addition, the SPC-12 may perform arithmetic (add, subtract),logical, store, shift, test, and input-output operations on a bytebasis. Further information on this particular stored program controlleris, of course, readily available, and such information will not berepeated herein.

Assuming that the particular press variable to be controlled by theillustrative system shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is the ink supply rate, theinformationinitially fed into the controller 21 via the teletypewriterfor any given printing run, is the number of each page to be printed,the particular printing unit, cylinder, and plate position where eachpage is to be printed, the color (if any) to be printed on each page,and the setting for the ink supply system at each column position withinthe plate position where each page is to be printed. In response to thisinput data, the controller 21 stores data in its memory correlating thenumbers of the pages to be printed with the particular printing units,cylinders, and plate positions at which each of the pages is to beprinted. At this point, the controller 21 is programmed to adjust thepress variables, such as the ink supply rate, automatically in responseto input signals representing the adjustments desired either forpresetting the press or for making adjustments during a printing run.For example, to preset the ink supply system in the press, theteletypewriter may be operated to feed the controller 21 input datarepresenting each page number and the ink setting for each columnposition for each page, and the controller 21 is programmed toautomatically transmit a signal representing each such setting to thespecific receiver associated with the particular printing unit at whichthe corresponding page is being printed. That is, the controller 21responds to the input data to produce a series of output signalsrepresenting the receiver to which each instruction word is to betransmitted; the cylinder, plate position, and column position to whichthe instruction word applies; and the magnitude and direction of theadjustment to be effected.

Each output signal generated by the controller 2] appears as aneight-level binary output signal on lines 22a through 22h. When theparticular controller employed is the SPC-12 identified previously, theeight lines 22a through 2211 comprise eight of the twelve availableinput/output bus lines. The eight-level binary signal generated by thecontroller 21 is transmitted via data bus lines 22a through 22h to afunction address register 24 and a transmission register 25. The firstoutput signal generated by the controller 21 is strobed into thefunction address register 24 in response to a function address pulse,referred to hereinafter as the FAP pulse, generated at the FAP terminalof the controller 21; the PAP terminal is a conventional part of theSPC-l 2 controller identified previously, and produces a signal whichstrobes the information on the eight input/output lines 22a through 22hinto the corresponding eight bits Al-A8 of the register 24. The firstthree bits (A1, A2 and A3) of the function address register 24 areconnected to a conventional binary to octal converter 26, such as aSignetics N8250A converter, for example. The converter 26 is alsoconnected to the transfer output pulse terminal of the controller 21;the transfer output pulse terminal, referred to hereinafter as the TOPtenninal, is a conventional part of the SPC-12 controller identifiedpreviously, and produces a singal which strobes the information on thelines 22a through 22h of the input/output bus into the portion of thetransmission register or receiver selector register selected by theoutputs from the converter 26. More particularly, whenever an outputpulse is produced by the transfer output pulse terminal of thecontroller 21, the converter 26 produces an output signal on one of theseven output lines 27a through 273 representing the data stored in bitsA1 through A3 of the function address register 24, and this signal istransmitted via data bus lines 27a through 27g to enable a selectedportion of the transmission register 25, the receiver selector register28, a transmit register 29, or a pair of AND gates 30 and 31. Moreparticularly, a signal appearing on one of the first four lines 27athrough 27d enables a corresponding one of four AND gates 32, 33, 34 and35 connected to the respective lines 27a through 27d, and the enabledgate in turn enables a corresponding group of eight bits A9-Al6,A17-A24, A25-A32, or A33-A36 of the transmission register 25. A signalappearing on the fifth line 27e enables an AND gate 36 associated withthe receiver selector register 28; a signal appearing on the sixth line27f enables an AND gate 37 associated with transmit register 29; and asignal appearing on the line 27g enables the two AND gates 30 and 31.

As mentioned prevously, the information that is intially fed into thecontroller 21 via the teletypewriter 20 determines the initial settingsto be made on the press via the automatic control system. For' example,if the particular variable being controlled is the ink supply rate, theinitial information might establish the precise settings to be made ateach of the adjustment points on the ink fountain blade, or otheradjustment means in the ink supply system. To permit subsequentadjustments during a press run, a manually operated keyboard 40 isconnected to the contoller 21 via an eightlevel encoder 41 and theinput/output lines 22a through 22h. An illustrative keyboard designshown in FIG. 2, although it is to be understood that a number ofdifferent keyboard designs may be utilized to permit different types ofinformation to be fed into the controller 21. Operation of the keyboardshown in FIG. 2 can be most easily understood by reference to a specificexample. Thus, if the-operator wishes to increase the ink supply rate tocolumn positions 1 and 5 for the first page, he depresses a keyrepresenting the page number 1, and then an enter" key 54 which causesthe controller 2l'to search its memory to determine the particularportion of the press where the page selected by key 50 is being printed.Next the operator depresses key 51 representing the direction of theadjustment desired, namely, an increase in the ink supply rate; thenkeys 52 and 53 representing the selected column positions; and finallykey-55 representing the magnitude of the desired adjustment. Theoperator then again depresses the enter key 54, which signals thecontroller 21 that the data input for this particular adjustment hasbeen completed.

In the exemplary key operation described above, depression of the key 50causes the controller to locate the particular cylinder and plateposition where black ink is being printed on page number 1. If a-coloris also being printed on the same page, depression of the key 50,representing the page number, plus one of four color selector. keys 56,causes the controller to locate the particular cylinder and plateposition where the selected color is being printed on the selected page.If an error is made by the operator depressing the keys, he simplypresses a clear" key 57 to clear the data fed into the controller beforeoccurrence of the error.

Additional keys on the keyboard shown in FIG. 2 permit the operator toselect an adjusting station in the press by selecting a particular unit,cylinder, and plate position rather than a page number. Moreparticularly, the unit is selected by depressing a unit key 58 plus oneof the numbered keys such as the key 50, the cylnder is selected bydepressing one of four cylinder selector keys 59, and the plate positionis selected by depressing one of four plate position selectorkeys 59a.For example, if the operator wishes to make an adjustment at the nearplate position of the left deck cylinder of unit 1, he depresses keys 58and '50, the left side deck" key 59, and the near plate positionselector key 59a. The magnitude and direction of the adjustment to beeffected at the selected position is then selected in the same mannerdescribed previously, e.g.,

, by depressing keys 55 and 51.

through A6 (bits A7 and A8 are reserve bits) of the function addressregister 24 supply control signals to a binary to octal converter 43,which responds to the signals from bits A4 through A6 to produce anenabling signal on either of two output lines 43a or 43b. If an enablingsignal appears on line 43a, all of the gates associated with theconverter 26 are enabled, so that the particular gates selected by theeight-level output signal from the converter 26 actuate the registersassociated therewith to receive an instruction word from the controller21 in response to the next TOP pulse. More particularly, if theconverter 43 produces an enabling signal on line 43a, and if gate 32 isenabled by a signal on line 27a, the next TOP pulse causes the data bitson lines 22a through 22h to be strobed into bits A10 through A16 of thetransmission register 25. Similarly, if enabling signals are produced onlines 43a and 27a, gate 36 causes the data on lines 22e through 22h tobe strobed into bits A37 through A40 of the output selector register 28in response to the next TOP pulse. The other output from the converter43, Le, the output signals on line 43b, are used to enable the encoder41 to permit data to be fed into the controller 21 in response tooperation of the keyboard 40.

It will be appreciated from the description thus far that severalinstruction words may have to be produced by the controller 21 on thelines 22a through 22h in order to provide all the necessary informationfor a complete instruction in the bits A10 through A40. in this case, ofcourse, it is necessary for the controller 21 to transmit severalinstruction words to the bits A10 through A40, with a different functionaddress word being transmitted to the function address register 24 inresponse to an FAP pulse preceding the transmission of each instructionword to the bits Al0-A40. It will be understood that the controller 21will be programmed to automatically carry out thenecessary cyclictransmission in response to input data from either the teletypewriter20, for presetting the press, or the keyboard 40, for making adjustmentsduring a press run.

The specific information represented by the bits A10 through A36 of thetransmission register will be described hereinafter in connection withthe receiver system for decoding such bits and actuating the appropriatepress adjustment means in response thereto. At this point, it willsuffice to state that bits A10 through A36 correspond to bits B] throughB27 of the receiver system to be described below. The receiver systemwill be described with specific reference to an instruction forcontrolling the ink supply rate to the various printing cylinders, butit will be understood that the system pro- -vided by this invention maybe used to control virtually any press function which can be maderesponsive to an electrical signal, by simply programming the controller21 to produce the necessary data bits in response to appropriate inputdata derived from the teletypewriter 20 or the keyboard 40. It shouldalso be noted that bit A9,

is not used in the illustrative system, and simply comprises a reservebit for use in modifications of the illustrative system, such as feedingdata serially into the transmission register 25.

The receiver system to be described below in connection with FIGS. 4aand 4b serves only a single printing unit. Since a typical pressinvolves multiple printing units, as mentioned previously, it isnecessary for the transmission system-to select the particular receiverto which each instruction stored in the transmission register 25 is tobe transmitted. This selection is made in response to the data stored inthe receiver selector register comprising bits A37 through A40. Moreparticularly, bits A37 through A40 supply signals to a pair of binary tooctal converters 60 and 61, which respond to the signals from bits A37through A40 to actuate a receiver selector 62 to select any one of anumber of different receivers. In the particular system illustrated inFIG. 3b, the converters 60 and 61 and the receiver selector 62 areadapted to choose any one of sixteen different receivers, but it will beunderstood that the system may be readily modified to serve a larger orsmaller number of receivers, depending upon the particular press beingcontrolled. The receiver selector 62 may comprise a series of relayswhich are energized in response to different signals received from theconverters 60 and 61 to automatically connect the transmission system tothe particular receiver system designated by the data stored in bits A37through A40.

After a complete instruction has been stored in the transmission system,including a receiver selection signal in the receiver selector register28, the controller 21 sends a function address signal to the functionaddress register 24 to actuate the transmit register 29, via AND gate37, in response to the next TOP pulse. More particularly, when the ANDgate 37 receives enabling signals both from the converter 43 and fromthe converter 26, in response to a TOP pulse, it triggers the flip-flop29 to supply a signal to the shift enable" input of each of the four-bitregisters included in the transmission register 25, e.g., registerA33-A36; the shift enable input is a conventional input in such four-bitregisters, such as the Signetics 8271 four-bit register. The outputsignal from the flip-flop 29 also actuates a shift pulse generator 70 tosupply shift pulses to the transmission register 25 so as to shift thebits A10 through A36 out of the transmission register 25, in serialfashion, into a data and shift pulse mixer 71. As the data pulsesrepresenting the bits A10 through A36 are supplied to the mixer 7],shift pulses are also supplied thereto from the shift pulse generator70, and the mixer 71 responds to the incoming data and shift pulses toproduce an output signal comprising a series of alternate data and shiftpulses. For example, each data pulse may be a negative-going pulse, andeach shift pulse a positive-going pulse, it being understood that datapulses appear only between selected pairs of successive shift pulsesaccording to the data stored in bits A1- -A36. This output signal istransmitted serially to the receiver selector 62, which directs thesignal to the particular receiver system selected by the bits A37through A40 via the converters 60 and 61.

When the entire instruction has been shifted out of the transmissionregister 25, an AND gate 72 senses identical signals from all the bits Athrough A36, and responds thereto to return the flip-flop 29 to itsoriginal state, thereby removing the enabling signal from the shiftenable input to the transmission register 25 and de-actuating the shiftpulse generator 70. Consequently, it can be seen that the transmissionof each signal to a selected receiver is controlled by the flip-flop 29,which in turn is controlled by signals from the two gates 37 and 72. 1

To prevent the controller 21 from transmitting instructions while aninstruction previously stored in the bits A10 through A40 is beingtransmitted to a selected receiver, the AND gate 30 is enabled by thesame output signal from the flip-flop 29 which actuates the shift pulsegenerator 70. The other inputs to this gate 30 are connected to the line43a from converter 43 which controls the loading of the variousregisters, and to line 27g from the converter 26 which is responsive tothe TOP pulses. If the flip-flop 29 has not been triggered to actuatethe shift pulse generator 70, the gate 30 is disabled and has no effecton the controller 21, so that loading of the bits A10 through A40 mayproceed. If, on the other hand, the flip-flop 29 has been triggered toactuate the shift pulse generator 70, the AND gate 30 is enabled toproduce an output signal which is applied to the controller via inputline 22b to prevent the transmission of any instructions from thecontroller 21. A similar function is served by AND gate 31, whichreceives the same two input signals received by gate 30 from lines 27gand 43a. The third input to AND gate 31 is derived from a receiverstatus detector 73 which detects whether the particular receiverselected by the receiver selector 62 is already carrying out a pressadjustment in response to a previous instruction. As will be describedbelow, the receiver system includes means for generating a busy signalas long as a press adjustment is being carried out in response to asignal previously transmitted to that particular receiver system. Thisbusy signal is transmitted back to the receiver selector 62 and detectedby the receiver status detector 73. The detector 73, in turn, enablesthe AND gate 31 in response to such a busy signal, and the AND gate 31produces an output signal which is transmitted to the controller 21 viainput line 22a to prevent the transmission of a further instruction tothe busy receiver until the pending adjustment is completed.

It will be appreciated that an output signal from either of the gates 30and 31 only prevents the controller 21 from transmitting instructions.That is, the controller 21 is still able to receive input data from thekeyboard 40 while. gate 30 or 31 is producing an output signal. Also,the receiver status detector 73 and its associated gate 31 only preventthe transmission of a signal to the particular receiver system which isbusy; that is, signals may be transmitted to other receiver systemswhich are not producing busy signals. In other words, the receiverselector 62 is normally connected to only one receiver system at anygiven time, so that a busy signal is detected by the detector 73 only ifsuch signal is received from the same receiver to which the nextinstruction is to be transmitted, as determined by the data stored inbits A37 through A40 of the receiver selector register.

At this point, it will be recognized that the controller 21 receivesinputs from several different sources, including the teletypewriter 20,the keyboard 40, the AND gate 30, and the AND gate 31. However, asmentioned previously, the presence of an input signal from one of thesesources does not necessarily disable the controller 21 for the durationof such signal. For example, while the controller receives a signal fromgate 30 or 31, it cannot transmit any further signals to thetransmission register, but it can still receive an input from thekeyboard 40. Thus, the controller 21 is programmed to scan all theavailable inputs cyclically so that it operates at maximum efficiency.

Turning now to the receiver system illustrated in FIGS. 40 and 4b,whenever an instruction word is transmitted to the receiver, a series ofdata pulses and shift pulses are transmitted serially over a single lineto a pulse detectorand separator 111. The detector and separator 111separates the data and shift pulses and passes the data pulses onthrough a pulse shaper 112 to a 27-bit (Bl-B27) shift register 113. Eachword fed into the shift register 113 comprises 27 bits, corresponding tothe 27 bits Al-A36 of the transmission register 25, so that each wordfills the shift register 1 13. It will be understood that each of the 27bits 81-327 in the shift register 113 has two outputs referred tohereinafter as the 1 output and the 0 output. In the initial or resetstate of the register, all the bits contain zeros, but when the firstdata pulse and shift pulse is applied to the register, the first bit B1receives and stores a one, indicated by a 1 output. The second datapulse and shift pulse then transfer 1 output of B1 to the next bit B2and store the next data'bit in B1, thereby shifting each data bit alongthe shift register until 27 shift pulses have been received. In oneexemplary embodiment of the invention, each data pulse isnegative-going, and each shift pulse is positive-going, so that eachnegativegoing pulse between a pair of successive positive pulsesrepresents'a logic I, and the absence of a negative pulse betweensuccessivepositive pulses represents a logic 0.

When a complete 27-bit instruction has been stored in the register 1 13,bits Bl, B26 and B27 are used to determine whether the instruction is alegitimate one. More particularly, the 1 output from bit B1, the 0output from bit B26, and the 1 output from bit B27 are all connected toa NAND gate 115 having a fourth input connected to a NAND gate 138 to bedescribed in more detail later. When bits B1 and B27 contain ls, bit B26contains a zero, and an enabling signal is received from gate 138, gate115 supplies a disabling signal to one of two inputs to an AND gate 117.As will be apparent from the ensuing description, if all the necessaryinputs are not supplied to the NAND gate 1.15, e.g., if bits B1, B26 andB27 do not contain 1, O, 1, respectively, the resultant enabling of gate117 causes a reset pulse to be applied to the shift register 113,thereby indicating that the instruction supplied to the register was notlegitimate.

Turning now to the receiver system illustrated in FIGS. 4a and 4b,whenever an instruction word is transmitted to the receiver, a series ofdata pulses and shift pulses are transmitted serially over a single line110'to a pulse detector and separator 111. The detector and separator111 separates the data and shift pulses and passes the data pulses onthrough a pulseshaper 112 to a 27-bit (BL-B27) shift register 113. Eachword fed into the shift register 113 comprises 27 bits, corresponding tothe 27 bits AA36 of the transmission register 25, so that each wordfills the shift register 1 13. It will be understood that each of the 27bits 81-827 in the shift register 113 has two outputs referred tohereinafter as the 1 output and the 0 output. In the initial or resetstate of the register, all the bits contain zeros, but when the firstdata pulse and shift pulse is applied to the register, the first bit B1receives and stores a one, indicated by a 1 output. The second datapulse and shift pulse then transfer 1 output of 81 to the next bit B2and stores the next data bit in B1, thereby shifting each data bit alongthe shift register until 27 shift pulses have been received. In oneexemplary embodiment of the invention, each data pulse is negativegoing,and each shift pulse is positive-going, so that each negative-goingpulse between a pair of successive positive pulses represents a logic 1,and the absence of a negative pulse between successive positive pulsesrepresents a logic 0.

Whena complete 27-bit instruction has been stored in the register 1 13,bits B1, B26 and B27 are used to determine whether the instruction is alegitimate one. More particularly, the 1 output from bit B1, the 0output from bit B26, and the 1 output from bit B27 are still connectedto an NAND gate having a fourth input connected to an NAND gate 138 tobe described in more detail later. When bits B1 and B27 contain ls, bitB26 contains a zero, and an enabling signal is received from gate 138,gate 115 supplies a disabling signal to one of two inputs to an AND gate117. As will be apparent from the ensuing description, if all thenecessary inputs are not supplied to the NAND gate 115, e.g., if bitsB1, B26 and B27 do not contain 1, 0, 1, respectively, the resultantenabling of gate 117 causes a reset pulse to be applied-to the shiftregister 113, thereby indicating that the instruction supplied to theregister was not legitimate. To prevent the enabling of AND gate 117during the shifting of an instruction into the shift register 1 13, asingle shot multivibrator 132 is triggered by the first data pulse fromthepulse shaper 112. The resulting output signal from the multivibrator132 supplies a disabling signal to the AND gate 117 for a predeterminedtime interval longer than the time required to .feed a legitimateinstruction into the shift register l 13; If a legitimate instruction isreceived, the gate 1 15 supplies a disabling signal to the AND gate 117before the termination of the time interval measured by the single shotmultivibrator 132. If a legitimate instruction is not received, theenabling signal from gate 1 l5 continues, so that when the time intervalmeasured by the multivibrator 132 is terminated, gate 1 17 will beenabled thereby applying a reset pulse to the shift register 113.

Returning now to the shift register 113, bits B2 through B9, whichcorrespond to bits A10 through A17 of the transmission register 25, areused to select any of .eight column positions at which the ink supplyrate is to be adjusted within a given plate position, at a givenimpression cylinder, by automatic control of the ink supply system. BitB10 is provided to permit selection of a ninth column position whennecessary, but will not be referred to again herein because theillustrative system is to be described with particular reference to'apress having only eight 'column positions within each plate position.

The illustration system is designed for use with a fountain adjustingmechanism of the type described in US. Pat. No. 2,572,554 to E. M.Worthington, but it will be understood that the invention is equallyapplicable to any other type of adjusting means that is capable of beingcontrolled by electrical signals. In the system described in theaforementioned patent, blade adjusting screws are advanced or retracted,to adjust the flexure of the fountain blade, by means of a shaft whichis coupled to selected adjusting screws by actuating solenoidsassociated with the respective screws. When the shaft is turned in onedirection, any adjusting screws coupled thereto are advanced during theinterval that the actuating solenoids are energized; when the shaft isturned in the opposite direction, the actuated adjusting screws areretracted during the interval that the solenoids are energized.

In FIG. 4a the circular symbols Sla, S1b, Slc 82a, 82b, 82c 83a, 83b,83c etc. represent the actuating solenoids associated with the adjustingscrews at the eight column positions at each of the eight platepositions for the two printing cylinders in one printing unit. Moreparticularly, the first four solenoids at each column position, e.g.,Sla-Sld, actuate the near, near center, far center, and far adjustingscrews, respectively, associated with one printing cylinder at thatparticular column position, and the last four solenoids, e.g., Sle-Slh,actuate the near, near center, far center, and far adjusting screws,respectively, associated with the other printing cylinder at the samecolumn position. In other words, the vertical position of any givensolenoid in the illustrative solenoid matrix determines the printingcylinder and the plate position, while the horizontal positiondetermines the column position. Although the illustrative solenoidmatrix is designed for use with a printing unit having only two printingcylinders with eight column positions within each of the four platepositions along each cylinder, it will be understood that any desirednumber of solenoids may be provided to control a corrresponding numberof adjusting screws in different types of printing units, i.e., havingdifferent numbers of printing cylinders and/or column positions.

When an instruction word is transferred out of the shift register 113,bits B2 through B9 determine which of the eight column positions,represented by the eight horizontal positions of the solenoids in theillustrative matrix, are to be enabled. More particularly, any of thebits 82-89 that contains a l supplies an enabling signal to acorresponding column solenoid driver 114a-l l4h which amplifies thesignal to the level necessary to enable the corresponding solenoids. Ascan be seen in FIG. 4a, an output signal from any one of the bits B2-B9enables all eight solenoids at that particular column positionsimultaneously; that is, an enabling signal from bit B2, for example,enables the first column position solenoid for all eight platepositions, i.e., solenoids Sla through 5111. Consequently, some furtherselection is required to permit adjustment at only selected ones of theeight plate positions.

Accordingly, the eight solenoids for each plate position, e.g.,solenoids Sla-88a, are connected to a corresponding plate positionsolenoid driver 121, e.g., solenoids Sla-88a are connected to driver121a. The solenoid drivers 121, in turn, are enabled by signals from (I)bit B23 selecting the right or left section of the printing unit; (2)bit B24 selecting the upper (deck) or lower cylinder of the printingunit, and (3) bits B19-B22 representing, respectively, the near, nearcenter, far center, and far plate positions for the selected printingcylinder. To permit selection of only one printing cylinder in responseto the signals from the cylinder selection bits 823 and B24, theenabling signals from these two bits are applied to four AND gates 141through 144 representing, respectively, the right deck cylinder, theleft deck cylinder, the lower right cylinder, and the lower leftcylinder. Thus, the AND gates 141-144 respond to the four differentpossible combinations of output signals from the bits B23 and B24 toselect one of the four different printing cylinders. For example, if asignal is received from both bits B23 and B24, AND gate 144 produces anoutput signal to enable the solenoid drivers 121a-121d associated withthe left printing cylinder. Similarly, if a I signal is received frombit B23 and a 0 signal from bit B24, AND gate. 143 produces an outputsignal to enable the solenoid drivers 121e-121h associated with theright printing cylinder. The gates 141 and 142 are not connected to anysolenoid drivers in the illustrative system because the solenoid matrixis designed to serve only two cylinders, but, as mentioned previously,the solenoid matrix can be readily expanded to serve additionalcylinders selected by the gates 141 and 142. It will also be noted atthis point that each of the AND gates 141-144 receives a third inputsignal, the source and function of which will be described below Asindicated above, the four bits B19-B22 select the particular plateposition or positions at which the adjustment is to be made along thecylinder selected by bits B23 and B24. More particularly, bit B19enables drivers 121a and 1212 associated with the two near positionsolenoid groups Sla-88a and S1e-S8e in the illustrative embodiment, bitB20 enables drivers 121b and 121 f associated with the two near centersolenoid groups S1b-S8b and S1 f-S8f, bit B21 enables drivers 121a and121g associated with the two far center solenoid groups S1c-S8c andS1g-S8g, and bit B22 enables drivers 121d and 121k associated with thetwo far solenoid groups SIdASSd and Slh-S8h. The other enabling input tothe drivers l21a-121h is supplied by the cylinder selection bits B23 andB24, AND gate 143 enabling drivers 121e-121h associated with the rightprinting cylinder, and AND gate 144 enabling drivers 121a-121dassociated with the left printing cylinder.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing description that even thoughthe group of eight solenoids at a given column position are all enabledby a signal from one of the bits B2-B9 of the shift register 113, anygiven solenoid within that group cannot be energized unless it alsoreceives an enabling signal from the corresponding plate positionsolenoid driver 121. If an enabling signal is received from driver 121a,for example, any of the near plate position solenoids for the firstcylinder (solenoids Sla-88a) that also receives an enabling signal fromone of the column position bits B2-B9 may be energized. In response tothe energization of any given solenoid, the corresponding adjustingscrew is automatically coupled to the motor-driven shaft as mentionedpreviously, and as described in more detail in the aforementionedWorthington U.S. Pat. No. 2,572,554. As will be apparent from theensuing description, any adjusting screw that is coupled to themotor-driven shaft is not actually turned unless the driving motor isenergized by further selective control functions to be described below.

The signals described thus far serve to select the particular printingcylinder, plate position, and column positions at which the automaticadjustment of the ink supply rate is to be effected. In addition, themagnitude and direction of the adjustment must be selected. For thepurpose of selecting the desired direction of the adjustment, bit B25supplies enabling signals to selected motor control solenoid drivers124, 125, 126 and 127 which in turn control the energization ofcorresponding motor control solenoids 124a, 125a, 126a and 127a tocontrol the direction of rotation of the two drive motors associatedwith the two printing cylinders. More particularly, if the ink supplyrate is to be increased, bit B25 enables motor control solenoid drivers124 and 126; if either of these drivers also receives an enabling signalfrom one of the AND gates 143 and 144, the corresponding motor controlsolenoid 124a or 126a is energized to drive the corresponding motor in afirst direction for retracting the adjusting screws associatedtherewith. If the adjusting screw is to be advanced to decrease the inkfeed rate, bit B25 enables motor control solenoid drivers 125 and 127;if either of these drivers also receives an enabling signal from one ofthe AND gates 143 and 144, the corresponding motor control solenoid 125aor 127a is energized to drive the corresponding motor in the otherdirection for advancing the adjusting screws associated therewith. Itwill be understood that the two output signals from the one bit B25 canbe used as the two direction control signals because only one of the twomotor control solenoids associated with each motor, e.g., solenoids 124aor 125a,

can be energized during any given adjustment.

For the purpose of controlling the magnitude or degree of any adjustmentinitiated by the control system described above, a conventional downcounter 130 is preset by bits 811-318 in the shift register 113. Thiscounter 130 counts pulses generated in response to rotation of themotor-driven shaft controlling the adjusting screws, e.g., at a rate ofone pulse per revolution, with the count stored in the counter beingreduced from the preset count in response to each input pulse, until itreaches zero. When the count reaches zero, an output signal is generatedand fed to terminate the adjustment and reset the shift register 113, aswill be dc scribed in detail below.

When an instruction word is fed into the shift register 113, bits B11through B12, which correspond to bits A19 through A26 of thetransmission register 25, represent the magnitude of the desiredadjustments in the form of a binary number which is strobed into thedown counter 130 simultaneously with the initiation of the desiredadjustment. More particularly, enabling signals from the bits Ell-B18are applied to corresponding AND gates 131a through 131h, which alsoreceive input signals from an AND gate 133. This AND gate 133 receivesan input signal from the single shot multivibrator 132, which enablesthe AND gate 133 during the time interval measured by the multivibrator132 after it is triggered by the first data pulse from the pulse shaper112. When the gate 115 determines that a legitimate instruction has beenreceived, it supplies an enabling signal to the second input AND gate133, via inverter 116, thereby producing an output signal from gate 133.Thus, it can be seen that the AND gate 133 does not produce an outputsignal until it has been confirmed that a legitimate instruction wordhas been stored in the shaft register 113 (indicated by the outputsignal from AND gate 115) and this output signal will continue only forthe duration of the time interval measured by the multivibrator 132. Inresponse to the outgates 141 through 144 which also receive enablingsigput signal from the AND gate 133, AND gates 131a counter may be usedfor this purpose.

The single shot multivibrator 132 also functions to initiate theadjustment operation by controlling the energization of the selectedcolumn solenoids and the selected motor control solenoids 124-127. Moreparticu larly, after termination of the time interval measured by thesingle shot multivibrator 132, an enabling signal is supplied to an ANDgate 140, which also receives an enabling signal from the inverter 116when a legitimate instruction word has been stored in the shift register1 13. Thus, after a complete word has been stored in the shift register113, and after the preset count has been strobed into the down counter130, the AND gate 140 produces an output signal which enables'the fourAND nals from bits B23 and B24 as described previously. Thus, regardlessof which printing cylinder is selected by bits B23 and B24, the selectedmotor control solenoid and column solenoids are not energized until theAND gates 141-144 receive the enabling signal from the AND gate 140. Inother words, the solenoids will be energized at the end of the timeinterval measured by the single shot multivibrator 132.

After energization of the selected motor control solenoid, count pulses,which are generated in response to rotation of the motor-driven shaftcontrolling the adjusting screws, are received at an input terminal 135and pass through a pulse amplifier and shaper 136 to the counter input137. As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the count storedin the counter 130 is progressively reduced in response to the inputpulses until it reaches zero, at which point a NAND gate 133 senses azero signal from each of the eight flip-flops comprising the counter130. The resulting output signal from the NAND gate 138 disables NANDgate 115, thereby enabling AND gate 117 to apply a reset signal to theshift register 113 and to the down counter 130 via OR gate 146.

The resetting of shift register 1 13 disables the gates 141-144, therebydeenergizing the previously selected adjusting motor, and the entirereceiver system shown in FIGS. 4a and 4b is then in condition to receivethe next instruction word.

To insure that the shift register 113 and the down counter 130 are inthe reset state whenever power is applied thereto, a power on resetpulse generator 147 produces a reset signal in response to applicationof the power. This signal is passedthrough the OR gate 1 to both theshift register 113 and the down counter 130.

For the purpose of generating the busy signal referred to previously inthe description of the transmission system of FIGS. 3a and 3b, the NANDgate supplies an enabling signal to a busy signal generator 1511 duringthe same interval that it supplies a disabling signal to the AND gate117. Consequently, a busy signal is generated and transmitted back tothe receiver status detector 73 via line 1 10 and receiver selector 62,continuously from the time the NAND gate 115 detects a legitimateinstruction until the receiver system is reset. As described previously,this busy signal prevents the transmission of another instruction to thereceiver as long as a press adjustment is being carried out in responseto a signal previously transmitted to that same receiver.

Although the invention has been described with particular reference tothe use of the illustrative control system to control the ink supplyrate, it will be apparent that the system provided by this invention isequally applicable to the control of other press variables that can bemade responsive to electrical signals, either for presetting the pressor for making adjustments during a press run. For example, both sidelayregister and circumferential register of the printing cylinders can becontrolled by the system of this invention. A typical mechanism foradjusting both sidelay register and circumferential register isillustrated in FIG. 5, in which a plate cylinder 210 is journaled at oneend for rotation in a housing 211. Bearings 212 are secured within thehousing 211, and the entire housing 211 is mounted for movement axiallyin response to axial movement of a shaft 213 which is threaded into astationary bracket 214 connected to the press frame. Axial movement ofthe shaft 213 and the housing 211 is effected by means of a gear 215connected to the free, outer end of the shaft 213, the gear 215 meshingwith a gear 216 driven by a reversible electric motor 217. As the motor217 drives the shaft 213 via gears 215 and 216, the housing 211 and thusthe plate cylinder 210 are moved in the axial direction so as to effectaxial or sidelay register of the plate cylinder. It will be understoodthat sidelay registration is typically utilized in a press to achieveproper alinement of each plate cylinder with respect to other platecylinders in the press as well as the web that is being printed.

To effect circumferential register of the plate cylinder 210, theopposite end thereof is connected to a motor-driven mechanism fordisplacing the cylinder 210 in the circumferential direction. This endof the plate cylinder 210 is joumaled in a housing 218 which is alsomounted for axial movement relative to the press frame so as toaccommodate adjustments in the axial position of the cylinder aseffected by the motor 217. To adjust the circumferential position of thecylinder 210, the end of the plate cylinder projects beyond the housing218 where it carries a drive gear 219 which is splined to the cylindershaft so that the cylinder is free to move axially relative to the gear.The gear 219 is a helical gear and meshes with co-acting gears in thedrive train.

The hub 220 of the gear 219 is connected through a bearing 221 to ashaft 222 that is threaded through a stationary bracket 223 secured tothe press frame. The free, outer end of the shaft 222 is connected to areversible drive motor 224. Consequently, when the drive motor 224 isenergized in either direction, the gear 219 is moved axially relative tothe plate cylinder journal, and since the gear 219 is of the helicaltype, the axial movement thereof advances or retracts the plate cylinder210 relative to the drive train and the cylinders of adjacent units tobring the printed impressions into register with each other.

As can be seen from FIG. and the foregoing description thereof, in orderto effect sidelay register of the plate cylinder 210 it is necessary toenergize the reversible motor 217 in a selected direction for a selectedtime, and to effect circumferential adjustment of the cylinder it isnecessary to energize the reversible drive motor 224 in a selecteddirection for a selected time. It is also necessary to select the drivemotor 217 and/or 224 associated with the particular plate cylinder to beadjusted. In the illustrative control system described previously, thesevariables can all be automatically controlled by using the bits in theoutput selector register to select the particular receiver system (orprinting unit) to which each instruction signal is to be sent, usingbits B23 and B24 in the receiver system to select the particularcylinder to be adjusted at the selected printing unit (either forpresetting or for adjustment during a run), using bits B11-B18 to selectthe magnitude of the adjustment, and using bit B25 to select thedirection of the cylinder adjustment. An additional bit may be providedin both the transmission and receiver systems to discriminate controlsignals forcylinder registration adjustments from control signals foradjusting other press variables. Other aspects of the system, includinguse of the stored program controller 21 to select a specific cylinder inresponse to an input signal representing a page number, are the same asdescribed above for control of the ink supply rate, except that there isno need to select column and plate positions.

Similarly, the illustrative control system may be used to adjust thecompensators which control cut-off" or longitudinal register of theprinted webs. Compensator adjustment mechanisms are well known in theart, and are exemplified by Frommer US. Pat. No. 3,031,118 and CorlettU.S. Pat. No. 2,521,691, for example. As in the case of the cylinderregistration system described above, the bits in the output selectorregister may be used to select the particular receiver system (orprinting unit) to which each instruction signal is to be sent, usingbits B23 and B24 in the receiver system to select the particularcompensator to be adjusted at the selected printing unit (either forpresetting or for adjustment during a press run), using bits B1 1-818 toselect the magnitude of the adjustment, and using bit B25 to select thedirection of the compensator adjustment. An additional bit may beprovided in both the transmission and receiver systems to discriminatecontrol signals for compensator adjustments from control signals foradjusting other press variables. Other aspects of the system, includinguse of the stored program controller 21 to select a specific compensatorin response to an input signal representing a page number, are the sameas described above for control of the ink supply rate, except that thereis no need to select column and plate positions.

Other press functions that can be controlled by the illustrative systemare margin control" (transverse register of the printed web), webtension, folders and the like; as in the case of the cylinder registerand compensator adjustments, each of these functions can be controlledby using bits A37-A40 of the output selector register to select theparticular receiver system to which each instruction signal is to besent, using bits B23 and B24 to select the particular adjustingmechanism to be actuated by the instruction signal (either forpresetting or for adjustment during a run), using bits Bl1-B18 to selectthe magnitude of the adjustment, and using bit B25 to select thedirection of the adjustment. Also, as in the case of the cylinderregister and compensator, additional bits may be provided in both thetransmitter and receiver systems to discriminate among the controlsignals for the various adjusting mechanisms and to direct each signalto the appropriate adjusting station in the press. Such additional bitsmay be included in the instruction signals generated by 4 stationsspaced along the width of a printing cylinder,

and does not necessarily correspond to the actual columns on the printedpage. Indeed, in the printing of a tabloid newspaper, it is conventionalto have the columns extending across the width of the web, so there isno relationship whatever between the printed columns and the columnpositions in the press.

We claim as our invention:

1. A printing press control system comprising the combination of aplurality of printing units each of which has at least two printingcylinders with each cylinder having a plurality of plate positions and aplurality of column positions within each plate position, an

ink supply system associated with each printing cylinder in said pressand including means for separately adjusting the ink supply rate at eachof said column positions, means for generating a first digitalelectrical signal comprising data bits representing a selected pagenumber and selected column positions at which the ink supply rate is tobe adjusted and a selected direction and magnitude for the adjustment tobe effected in the ink supply rate, control means including a storageunit for storing data correlating the numbers of pages being printedwith the particular printing cylindersand plate positions at which therespective pages are being printed, said control means being responsiveto said first electrical signal for generating a second digitalelectrical signal comprising data bits representing a selected printingcylinder, a selected plate position, and selected column positions atwhich the ink supply rate is to be adjusted, and a selected directionand magnitude for the adjustment to be effected in the ink supply rate,and receiver means associated with each printing unit and responsive tosaid second electrical signal for automatically enabling the adjustingmeans at the selected cylinder, plate position, and column positions,and for automatically energizing said adjusting means intheselecteddirection until an adjustment of the selected magnitude iseffected and then automatically deenergizing said adjusting means.

2. A printing press control system comprising the combination of aplurality of printing units each of which has at least two printingcylinders with each cylinder having a plurality of plate positions and aplurality of column positions within each plate position, an ink supplysystem associated with each printingcylinder in said press and includingmeans for separately adjusting the ink supply rate at each of saidcolumn positions, a solenoid matrix' including a multiplicity ofsolenoids for actuating the multiple adjusting means in the ink supplysystem, with the position of each solenoid in. a first directiondetermining the cylinder and plate position of the adjusting meansassociated therewith, and the position of the solenoid in a seconddirection determining the column position of the adjusting meansassociated therewith, drive means for driving said adjusting means whenactuated by said solenoids, and. digital electronic control meansconnected to said solenoid matrix and responsive to a digital electronicsignal containing a plurality of data bits, said control means includingmeans for enabling all of said solenoids corresponding to a selectedcolumn position in response to a first data bit in said signal, meansfor enabling all of said solenoids corresponding to a selected cylinderposition in response to a third data bit in said signal, and means forenergizing said drive means in a selected direction in response to afourth data bit in said signal.

3. A printing press control system comprising the combination of aplurality of printing units each of which has at least two printingcylinders with each cylinder having a plurality of plate positions and aplurality of column positions within each plate position, means forgenerating a first digital electrical signal representing a plurality ofpages to be printed and the printing unit, cylinder, and plate positionwhere each of said pages is to be printed, means for storing said firstsignal, means for generating second digital electrical signalsrepresenting the number of a selected one of said pages, the magnitudeand direction of a desired adjustment in the printing of said selectedpage, and the column positions at which said adjustment is desired,means responsive to the second electrical signal representing saidselected page for producing third digital electrical signalsrepresenting the particular printing unit, cylinder, and plate positionwhere said selected page is being printed in said press, meansresponsive to the third electronic digital signal representing theparticular printing unit at which said selected page is being printedfor transmitting the other third signals and said second signals to saidparticular printing unit, and

means responsive to said other third signals and said second signals foreffecting a press adjustment of the magnitude and direction representedby the second signals at the column positions represented by said secondsignals and at the cylinder and plate positions represented by saidother third signals.

d. A printing press control system comprising the combination of aplurality of printing units each of which has at least two printingcylinders with each cylinder having a plurality of plate positions and apluraL ity of column positions within each plate position, electronicdigital storage means containing electronic signals representing thepointing unit, cylinder, and plate position where each of a plurality ofpages is to be printed, electronic digital control means operativelyresponsive to said output signals for automatically transmitting saidsignal representing the magnitude and direction of the desiredadjustment to said particular'

1. A printing press control system comprising the combination of aplurality of printing units each of which has at least two printingcylinders with each cylinder having a plurality of plate positions and aplurality of column positions within each plate position, an ink supplysystem associated with each printing cylinder in said press andincluding means for separately adjusting the ink supply rate at each ofsaid column positions, means for generating a first digital electricalsignal comprising data bits representing a selected page number andselected column positions at which the ink supply rate is to be adjustedand a selected direction and magnitude for the adjustment to be effectedin the ink supply rate, control means including a storage unit forstoring data correlating the numbers of pages being printed with theparticular printing cylinders and plate positions at which therespective pages are being printed, said control means being responsiveto said first electrical signal for generating a second digitalelectrical signal comprising data bits representing a selected printingcylinder, a selected plate position, and selected column positions atwhich the ink supply rate is to be adjusted, and a selected directionand magnitude for the adjustment to be effected in the ink supply rate,and receiver means associated with each printing unit and responsive tosaid second electrical signal for automatically enabling the adjustingmeans at the selected cylinder, plate position, and column positions,and for automatically energizing said adjusting means in the selecteddirection until an adjustment of the selected magnitude is effected andthen automatically deenergizing said adjusting means.
 2. A printingpress control system comprising the combination of a plurality ofprinting units each of which has at least two printing cylinders witheach cylinder having a plurality of plate positions and a plurality ofcolumn positions within each plate position, an ink supply systemassociated with each printing cylinder in said press and including meansfor separately adjusting the ink supply rate at each of said columnpositions, a solenoid matrix including a multiplicity of solenoids foractuating the multiple adjusting means in the ink supply system, withthe position of each solenoid in a first direction determining thecylinder and plate position of the adjusting means associated therewith,and the position of the solenoid in a second direction determining thecolumn position of the adjusting means associated therewith, drive meansfor driving said adjusting means when actuated by said solenoids, anddigital electronic control means connected to said solenoid matrix andresponsive to a digital electronic signal containing a plurality of databits, said control means including means for enabling all of saiDsolenoids corresponding to a selected column position in response to afirst data bit in said signal, means for enabling all of said solenoidscorresponding to a selected cylinder position in response to a thirddata bit in said signal, and means for energizing said drive means in aselected direction in response to a fourth data bit in said signal.
 3. Aprinting press control system comprising the combination of a pluralityof printing units each of which has at least two printing cylinders witheach cylinder having a plurality of plate positions and a plurality ofcolumn positions within each plate position, means for generating afirst digital electrical signal representing a plurality of pages to beprinted and the printing unit, cylinder, and plate position where eachof said pages is to be printed, means for storing said first signal,means for generating second digital electrical signals representing thenumber of a selected one of said pages, the magnitude and direction of adesired adjustment in the printing of said selected page, and the columnpositions at which said adjustment is desired, means responsive to thesecond electrical signal representing said selected page for producingthird digital electrical signals representing the particular printingunit, cylinder, and plate position where said selected page is beingprinted in said press, means responsive to the third electronic digitalsignal representing the particular printing unit at which said selectedpage is being printed for transmitting the other third signals and saidsecond signals to said particular printing unit, and means responsive tosaid other third signals and said second signals for effecting a pressadjustment of the magnitude and direction represented by the secondsignals at the column positions represented by said second signals andat the cylinder and plate positions represented by said other thirdsignals.
 4. A printing press control system comprising the combinationof a plurality of printing units each of which has at least two printingcylinders with each cylinder having a plurality of plate positions and aplurality of column positions within each plate position, electronicdigital storage means containing electronic signals representing thepointing unit, cylinder, and plate position where each of a plurality ofpages is to be printed, electronic digital control means operativelyconnected to said storage means and programmed to respond to a series ofapplied signals representing the number of a selected one of said pages,the magnitude and direction of a desired adjustment in the printing ofsaid selected page, and the column positions at which said adjustment isdesired to produce a corresponding series of output signals representingthe particular printing unit, cylinder, and plate position where saidselected page is being printed in said press, the column positions wherethe adjustment is desired, and the magnitude and direction of thedesired adjustment, means responsive to said output signals forautomatically transmitting said signal representing the magnitude anddirection of the desired adjustment to said particular printing unit,cylinder, plate position and column positions, and means responsive tosaid signals representing the magnitude and direction of the desiredadjustment for effecting said adjustment in the press.